Related Stories

Anaheim Ducks defenceman Chris Pronger and Dallas Stars forward Steve Ott are the dirtiest players in the NHL, according to a player poll conducted by Sports Illustrated.

The poll, which will appear in this week's issue of the magazine, asked 324 NHL players to name the dirtiest player in the league. The result: a dead heat between Pronger and Ott for first place on the list, both with 13 per cent.

The result came as no surprise to Pronger, whose Ducks are in the midst of a second-round playoff series with the Detroit Red Wings.

"That's their prerogative," he told the Detroit Free Press. "There's always a lot of whining out on the ice."

Pronger has been on the wrong end of NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell's suspension stick many times.

His most recent transgression was an eight-game ban after an incident in March 2008 when he stepped on Ryan Kesler's leg during a game against Vancouver. And he was memorably suspended twice during the Ducks' Stanley Cup run in 2007, each time for one game, after dirty hits on Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom and the Ottawa Senators' Dean McAmmond.

In total, Pronger has been suspended eight times during his 14-year career.

Ott's most recent suspension came in March of this year. He sat out one game after video showed him gouging the eye of Anaheim's Travis Moen during a game against the Ducks.

Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu was a close second behind Ott and Pronger, at 12 per cent. The New York Rangers' Sean Avery, who was last year's runaway winner of the poll with 24 per cent, was third this time around at 10 per cent. Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell was fourth, at five per cent.